EIAxpert: rule-based screening-level EIA

The rule-based expert system was developed for the Mekong Secretariat, Bangkok, Thailand, (now located in Laos) to support screening-level environmental impact assessment for water resources development projects in the Lower Mekong Basin.

The system offers a fully menu driven graphical user interface, and includes a hypertext-based (HTML format) help- and explain system with an on-line user manual and extensive background information for the rule-based expert system.

The icon menu of the startup-page provides access to

• the expert system proper (the assesment tools); based on the EIA guidelines of the Asian development Bank (ADB), the system uses hierarchical checklists covering site selection, project design, construction phase, project operation, environmental mitigation, and cost benefit analysis.

• an object-oriented project data base that compiles the available information on development projects and project alternatives; the Project Data Base is linked to the

• hierarchical GIS, that stores, displays, and analyses georeferenced data for the entire basin are, as well as for the individual project sites.

A detailed report (available on-line) describing the system and its initial application to the Lower Mekong basin is given in Fedra et al., (1991).